Pfizer, SMC Enter Liver Cancer Research Pact

Pfizer and Samsung Medical Center (SMC) have formed a research partnership to jointly analyze tumors from Korean patients to generate gene expression profiles in an effort to direct therapies and enhance clinical outcomes in the patients with liver cancer.

Pfizer has been investing in R&D of drug candidates and potential treatments for patients with liver cancer to address the growing need for drugs to treat liver cancer in the Asian market.

SMC works to develop new anticancer drugs through organic collaboration with other organizations; building a base of specimens in the liver cancer area; and accumulating the know-how for diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer.

“We are pleased to have an opportunity to work with the world’s No. 1 pharmaceutical company Pfizer to better understand cancer in Korean patients, with the goal of being able to send a new message of hope for patients with liver cancer across the world (especially in Asia),” said Choi Han-Yong, president of Samsung Medical Center.

“This partnership will serve as a great opportunity to combine Pfizer’s know-how in drug development and Samsung Medical Center’s extensive genome information and technology in the liver cancer area,” said Neil Gibson, vice president of Oncology Research Unit at Pfizer. “We further plan to share the ownership of collected and analyzed data with Samsung Medical Center, contributing to advance of a variety of oncology research in Korea.”